Animal Overpopulation

What is animal overpopulation? There are many causes and consequences of this particular issue. Irresponsible breeding, non-neutered/non-spayed pets, and a growing population of stray animals are a few major causes of animal overpopulation. The result and consequence of animal overpopulation: an overwhelming number of homeless animals. 

Ever since I started volunteering at the WCAS, the reality of animal overpopulation hit me like a train with no breaks. I was completely unaware of the seriousness of this problem. In my personal opinion, animal population means that our society is not taking enough action in 1) the prevention of irresponsible breeding and 2) enforcing pet owners to neuter/spay their animals. If these two, major causes of animal overpopulation are heavily regulated, then there would not be as many homeless animals as there are today. Animal overpopulation is an issue that is overlooked by our society, but desperately needs to be talked about. Because this issue is overlooked, people are not being educated of what they can do to stop it and because people are not being educated about ways to put an end to animal overpopulation, society as a whole does not identify it as an important issue. I am only assuming this because I did not see it as an important issue before volunteering at the shelter. I didn't see a problem in breeding or choosing not to neuter/spay your pets because I was never properly educated on these issues. This makes me question, is society taking the appropriate steps to raise awareness and prevent these issues that result in animal overpopulation?

Fortunately, attempts are being made to combat this issue. House Bill 930, the Puppy Mill Bill, is "an act to establish standards of care for large commercial dog breeding facilities and to provide law enforcement with tools to ensure that dogs at those facilities are treated humanely" (http://ncleg.net/Sessions/2013/Bills/House/PDF/H930v0.pdf). This bill presents a list of rules that must be followed by large commercial dog breeding facilities. Although I am pleased that this bill legally restricts irresponsible breeding, one aspect of the bill has left me a bit unsatisfied: "Any person who owns, has custody of, or maintains 10 or more female dogs over the age of six months that are capable of reproduction and kept primarily for the purpose of breeding and selling the offspring as pets shall provide the following for each dog owned, kept, or maintained by that person." This Puppy Mill Bill specifically defines what a "large breeding facility" is. What about the irresponsible breeders who are disobeying all of these requirements but are safe from the law because they only have 6 female breeding dogs? Why does this bill only focus on the "large commercial" breeding facilities? The American Kennel Club opposes this bill and makes a good argument that the basic standards of care should apply to ALL dogs: "This bill only applies standards of care to those who meet this misleading definition of "large commercial dog breeder"...If the purpose of this measure is truly to improve the wellbeing of dogs, then it doesn't make sense to limit these standards of care to only those who own 10 or more intact female dogs" (http://www.wral.com/asset/news/state/nccapitol/2013/05/08/12425852/HB_930_Talking_Points-_On_Letterhead-_May_7_2013.pdf).

Although I would like to make some alterations to the House Bill 930, I still support its intentions of helping animals in need and curbing the issue of animal overpopulation. People, like the American Kennel Club may label this as an unsuccessful attempt, but as long as awareness is being raised and animals are being saved, every attempt is successful. Each effort put into action will take us one step closer to our ultimate goal(s): curbing animal overpopulation and the causes and consequences it's tied to.

All of the animals in these images have been at one point or still are homeless due to animal overpopulation:

Casa Blanca. ID#86658.

Simone. ID#88289.

Beauty. ID#87498.

Diesel. ID#89472.

Icelandic Breeze. ID#89499.

Leonard. ID#88682.

Chops. ID#44295.

King. ID#82176.

Tucker. ID#88031.

Emerson. ID#68687.

Mama Mia. ID#87648.